Too Tense???

Or should I say Too Tents....
Over the last many years, our family has developed a beloved tradition of spending a week at Fort Stevens Campground on the Oregon Coast. Our kids have grown up attending "The Ward Campout". We're coming up on 20 years of "outdoor living" as we have come to call it. Over time we have developed and refined a system that lets us enjoy being in the great out-of-doors for a week without giving up some of the finer things in life...
As our needs changed over time, we collected tents to better accomodate our family's genuine comfort. But, as with anything that gets repeated use, some of these have become damaged, worn....seen better days as it were....Every year we promise ourselves we will "Sit down and go through each tent" to inventory and repair them so each is in A1 perfect condition....but you know how that goes...when we get home, we clean up the tents we used, put them away and then pull them out the day before (or even the day OF)packing...we leave the poor little damaged tents behind with that same promise, "We GOTTA fix those tents!!"
Well, this year Mark started vacation early to be able to spend some quality time alone with his camping gear....on Friday he pulled out all the tents....then we spent nearly all day yesterday working on them....YES, you read that right...nearly ALL day....
Let me go back a little bit so you get a better idea what were are talking about:
The Ol' Coonster and I have a nice big tent for just the two of us...it holds our queen size bed(seriously...it's an inflatable bed...on a frame...) all our gear, a couple of chairs, or stools, and my indispensable Port-a-Potty (don't knock it 'til you've tried it!)I got it a couple of years ago online....steal of a deal and it is in perfect A1 shape...I love it.
Geoff and Alexis received a nice tent as a wedding gift, so they have their own. They have already used it a couple of times, and it is in perfect A1 shape. I love it. They are all set.
This year Alexis' sister Heidi is coming from Colorado for several days of the campout. She is bringing her little toddler, Lily, so they need a tent....the one I would like them to use....NOT in pefect shape....it is our old original Coleman...it is a nice big dome tent...more than roomy for one and a half people, but one of the poles had broken...no longer in A1 shape...I don't love it.
We also have "The Jolly Roger," which is a smaller tent....the kind with 2 sort of "locker" ends for gear, then sleeping space in the middle....this one holds a soft spot in my heart...it was given to us by some former neighbors who knew we loved camping...they were moving, didn't want it and GAVE it to us...a FREEBIE...over many years Geoff and his good buddy Bobby Boland(aka Deep Voice Bobby, or Bobby Peru) shared that tent at the campout....it has great "scentimental" value...nothing like 2 young boys stinking up a tent to bring tears to your eyes! Although it hasn't been used since the boys grew up, it is in perfect,A1 condition...I love it.
We have a 7 x 7 Coleman tent-also given to us-that was used a couple of times over the last years...it seems that it wasn't properly stored after the last use...when we pulled it out to use over the 4th of July, it had a definite "funk." Kind of musty...but all the parts/pieces there...not quite A1 shape, and not quite loved. But after the Ol'Coonster scrubbed and hosed and perfumed her up...well, nothing short of perfect A1 shape....I love it!

Then comes the "First" big tent we used....it's a great, oversized tent...similar in shape to the Jolly Roger with a nice size sleeping space and smaller "lockers." This is a great tent, but it had Zipper issues...at a point close to the top of the door where it curved, the zipper teeth were a little "jakey" so zipping was an iffy prospect at times....turns out, the Ol' Coonster had kind of Gerber tooled it into submission, so it works just fine.....but one of the poles was broken....not in A1 shape, and because of the zipper issue, I did not love it...although, let me say the little side areas made a great place to put the commode.....
WELL!!! All that background to say: You cannot simply buy tent poles at the sporting goods store to fit your tent repair needs. Shocking, I know!!! After setting up 2 of the tents in the driveway( I should write another post about the neighbors and their comments)and doing lots of math...well The Ol' Coonster did the math....we figured out what we needed....but no one could sell us "off the shelf" replacement poles. Crazy,No??
Undaunted, we did what every right thinking American does....we Googled....then made a couple of phone calls....which led to a field trip over to Andy & Bax Sporting Goods, which is a scary, awesome, old school sporting goods store over on the East Side of the River.....they had (and we bought) all the stuff we needed and headed back home into the hot afternoon sun....it was 90 glorious, fabulous, rejuvinating degrees......we started setting up every tent we own in our back yard...
Oh, did I forget to mention that my co-worker Kathy GAVE me another tent on Friday? YUP!! She brought me a great Kelty tent that she planned to take to Goodwill...it had a small tear in the floor and she didn't want it.....WOW!!! DOUBLE WOW!!! It is in fantastic shape (except for a little L-shaped tear in the floor.) We set it up, Mark found our handy-dandy floor repair kit, and in 2 minutes time had made yet another 4 man tent....Perfect A1 shape. I love it.
While McGyver was rebuilding shock-cord tent poles, I peeled apples that had fallen from our tree, and hooked up the dehydrator to make apple chips.....the missionaries stopped by for a mintue to see if we could help them out with some Cortisone cream for poison something-or-other one of them had gotten into...they marvelled at the ridiculous tent city we had buit and were off to their dinner appointment.....The Ol'Coonster finished the repairs, and just before dusk we finished setting up the tents to make sure they work...SUCCESS!!!Well, to be honest, we only set up 4 of them...

So now...have you been keeping track? How many tents to the Taylors have??
Seven Tents In Perfect, A1 Condition!!!! I LOVE IT!!! My joy is full....again, I LOVE IT!
Oh, and some apple chips, too.....